Suspicion
by Etaleah
Summary: On paper, it was just a routine inspection. But in reality, it was so much more.


**Set before the main story but after Johnny's beating.**

Lila drove carefully through the Tulsa streets into the poorest neighborhoods in town, her hands white on the wheel. It was only her second year on the job, but she had already stopped thinking of this as a routine inspection. It was a matter of life and death for an innocent young boy.

And there was no way she'd mess that up again.

 _"Are you gonna take me away from Mommy and Daddy_? _she had asked, tears threatening in her eyes._

 _Lila smiled and stroked her hair. "No,_ _of course not, sweetie." Not unless it was absolutely necessary. Both of them had assured Lila that they had applied for jobs and were just waiting on a phone call. They just needed a chance and some time. "I think every child should get to live with his or her own family, don't you think?"_

 _Sadie shifted on the couch. "Yes." Sadie had been a little hesitant in answering questions, but that was to be expected. The place was a little messy, but Lila didn't know anyone- herself included- whose house couldn't use some fixing up. The scrapes on Sadie's leg had looked for all the world like the kind kids got from kicking a ball around. And her foster parents had been so cooperative. Never avoiding questions, never impolite. Lila had been happy to give them the benefit of the doubt._

Two funerals and a dozen nights of crying herself to sleep later, she'd never make that mistake again.

Lila pulled into the driveway, cut the engine, and glanced at her papers. The child's name was Ponyboy Curtis. His guardian was his older brother Darrel Curtis, Jr. Only twenty years old. She scoffed. A kid that age probably had more alcohol in his body than air. Twenty was too young to be a parent.

She slowly walked up the front lawn. The grass was longer than in most lawns, and the house was shabby. She knocked on the door. A young face appeared in the side window, then turned away.

"Darry!" she heard a boy's voice call out. A minute later the door opened, revealing a tall man with a stern face who had muscles the size of baseballs. No fourteen-year-old boy could hope to defend himself against that.

"Can I help you with something, ma'am?" he asked in what she could tell was his most polite voice.

"I'm here for an inspection," she said curtly. He opened the door for her and let her in. Just as she'd suspected, the place was a wreck. The table was cluttered with leftovers, and shoes, cigarettes, and playing cards were everywhere. The windows were grimy and dirty, and the kitchen didn't look much better. Then she caught something out of the corner of her eye. Was it? Yes, it was. A beer bottle in the corner. _Filthy scum._

Lila took a look at the boy. He looked scared. There was a cut on his neck and he looked awfully underfed. Big guy like Darrel would have no problem with him. She watched Darrel and noticed that he looked nervous, to say the least, and was trying to avert his icy blue eyes. _I don't trust those eyes._

"Hey Ponyboy! Where are you?" a voice called out from the hallway. She whipped her head around in time to see two boys come out into the main room and then stop in their tracks as soon as they saw her. She eyed them closely. One was small and weak looking. He had dark, tanned skin with big black eyes and black hair. He hunched his shoulders and looked at the floor. She checked her chart again. Ponyboy had another brother, Soda, who was also underage. This must be him.

"How old are you?" she asked him. He didn't look sixteen, nor did he look much like his brothers.

She barely heard his answer. "Sixteen."

The other boy put his arm around Soda, squeezing his shoulders tightly. _Too tightly._ She noticed a scar on Soda's face that resembled the cut on Ponyboy's neck. _Too much of a coincidence._

"How are things going for you guys?" she asked as she headed for the kitchen. She opened the pantry and was disappointed but not surprised by its emptiness.

"Everything's fine, ma'am," Darrel said. He was giving his brothers a look that Lila knew meant, _keep your mouths shut._ That couldn't be good.

Lila opened the freezer and fridge and found them crammed with beer, some grape jelly, eggs, and chocolate cake. With the possible exception of the eggs, that didn't make for a whole lot of nutrition. No wonder the boys were so thin. And was that- she leaned in farther and covered her mouth. _Green pancakes._

She stood up and shut the door, then rejoined the brothers in the living room, clicking her heels hard on the floor. "I'm concerned about what you're eating," she said, addressing Darrel. He was terribly tall. "You can't hope to feed them properly on just cake and eggs and- other things. And I suggest you give your refrigerator a good cleaning."

"But Miss, we just cleaned it last week," Ponyboy said, looking confused, but Darrel nudged him and he kept quiet. That did not go unnoticed by Lila and she quickly wrote _Child possibly under duress_ in her notes. She wondered if maybe he didn't know about the green pancakes.

"Then I suggest you clean it again, and then fill it with more fruits and vegetables," she said in a clipped tone. Darrel nodded respectfully, but she could see the worry crease in his forehead when she mentioned fruits and vegetables. Lila wasn't an idiot; she knew they were expensive, but God knew if they could afford alcohol and cigarettes, they could afford to eat something decent once in a while.

After inspecting the rest of the house, which wasn't much better (and apparently the two brothers were crammed into one bed while Darrel got one to himself), she asked to speak to Ponyboy alone. Her supervisor had told her not to bother with Soda; he was almost a legal adult and fully employed, so he wasn't as much of a concern as Ponyboy. Still, she'd get them both out of here if she could. This could hardly be an unhealthier environment.

"Are you happy here?" she asked.

Ponyboy nodded, looking everywhere but at her. "Yeah."

She crossed and uncrossed her legs, trying to think how best to make him talk. "You know anything you can tell me is completely confidential, right?" She tried to put on an encouraging smile. "If there's a problem, you can tell me, and I won't say anything to your brother if you don't want me to."

He shook his head and started to scowl. "Ain't nothin' to say. We're good. Everything's fine."

Lila stuck out her bottom lip as she perused through her papers. She asked him about school, his grades, his health, and what a typical day was like.

"I go to school, go to track practice if it's Tuesday or Thursday, come home, do homework, eat dinner, and go to sleep," he said. "On weekends I do homework, read, and play a little football."

Lila sighed. He was a tough nut to crack. She didn't blame him though; Darrel wasn't exactly someone anybody wanted to cross. "One last question, Ponyboy. Do you want to stay here?"

He leaned forward and finally looked her in the eye this time. "Yes. I absolutely want to stay here. They're my brothers. I need them and they need me."

 _But that doesn't mean they can take care of you,_ Lila wanted to point out as she shook his hand and let the brothers escort her out. _Safety is more important than family,_ she screamed in her head as she got in her car and cried in frustration.

But she didn't say any of it aloud, because like all criminals, Darrel Curtis was innocent until proven guilty. She would prove him guilty if she could, but inspections and reports were all she could do unless someone higher up decided to step in, which was unlikely given that they were more concerned with younger children. Still, Lila would do whatever was in her power to keep Ponyboy- and Soda- safe from their brother.

She only hoped she could do it before they wound up in coffins too.


End file.
